Cons:

When EA announced that they would be supporting Xbox Live online play at this year's E3, many gamers immediately started brushing up on their pigskin skills in anticipation of the release of NCAA Football 2005. The venerable series has always been the game of choice for most college football fans, thanks to its deep Dynasty mode and wide variety of options for creating the school, team, or player you've always dreamed about. While it's the first EA game to be playable online on Microsoft's big black box, it's the game's other additions that really make it stand out from the pack.

The biggest and best addition to this year's game is the Homefield Advantage system, which ranks some of the toughest places to play, then alters the noise levels depending on the situation. If you're trying to drive against the Florida Gators in The Swamp, you can be sure that the opposing crowd will be going nuts, trying to rattle your QB or throw off your receivers' timing routes. As the crowd gets louder, your controller will start to vibrate like crazy, and the screen itself will actually shake, much like the stadium cameras at a real game.

The Homefield Advantage system really has the power to change the game. As an opposing QB, you need your wideouts to be able to hear any audibles you call, and if you try to call one while the house is a-rockin', your teammates may throw their hands up, signaling that they can't hear you. When working under the pressure of the play clock, this can kill a drive, either with a delay of game penalty, or worse, with an inopportune interception, caused by a receiver running the wrong route.

Not every school's stadium is known for having vocal fans, so you may need to put a quality product on the field before they'll come. In the game's Dynasty mode, it might take a few years before your stadium joins the ranks of Memorial Stadium, home of the Cornhuskers, or Tennessee's Neyland Stadium, and there are other criteria that decide how loud or oppressive a crowd can get. If you're playing in a small stadium, there's no way your fans will be as loud as the 107,000 Michigan fans that pack their stadium every Saturday. Still, Homefield Advantage is a great addition, and few things match the power you'll feel when you stifle the noise of an opposing fanbase with a quick TD to take the lead in the 4th quarter.

While a noisy crowd probably won't intimidate you, the player, very much, you can be sure that it has an effect on your players. That's why, in addition to the Homefield Advantage system, there is a new way to tell how well your players are handling the pressure. Using the new Matchup stick, you can see how the members of your team, as well as your opponents', are faring as you line up for every play.

Utilizing the Matchup stick will allow you to check out the various head-to-head matchups on the field, such as wideouts vs. defensive backs or linebackers against the running backs. There are a few different types of player composures to watch out for. If your man is cool under pressure, he will be listed as composed, while if he's a nervous wreck, he might be considered rattled. You can exploit these matchups in whatever way you see fit, whether it be by throwing towards your opponents' freshman cornerback, or charging up the middle at a linebacker who has already missed a few crucial tackles.